Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Costle

The court grants plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from disclosing trade secret research data submitted by pesticide manufacturers. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), plaintiffs are required to submit research data when applying for pesticide registrations. Plaintiffs argued that the data represent a substantial corporate investment in research, and they enjoy a market advantage that would be lost if their competitors had access to the information. Thus, they asserted, a 1978 amendment to FIFRA, which purportedly authorizes the disclosure of trade secrets for the use and benefit of competing manufacturers in applying for pesticide registrations, is a taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Defendants respond that the FIFRA amendment is an appropriate means to lessen public harm from commerce in pesticides and thus a proper exercise of the police power pursuant to the Commerce Clause. Furthermore, defendants argue that to the extent there has been a taking, there is an adequate legal remedy in the court of claims under the Tucker Act. Rejecting the adequacy of Tucker Act relief, the court notes that plaintiffs have made a strong showing that $10 of FIFRA constitutes a Fifth Amendment taking of trade secret research data. Finally, since there are sufficiently serious claims that the disclosure would cause plaintiffs grievous and irreparable injury to their commercial interests, the court preliminarily enjoins disclosure of the data pending a trial on the merits.